Recommended Chinese Books/Magazines 好书介绍

[joconde]

tamarind:

joconde:

Hi,


May I know where can I get 金庸 and 卫斯理 books in simplified chinese ?

I thought I saw the simplified Chinese version in Popular, you can check there first.

Thanks, will check it out. If u happen to come across 卫斯理 in simplified chinese, pls do let me know. I think my boy will be more interested in sci fic.

[relaxedmom]

Hey, Tamarind, I'm so happy to find someone who shares my passion in \"yi shu\" books (sorry, don't know how to type in chinese :oops: ). I collect yi shu books. Right now, I have more than 200 of her books...only missing the earlier books.... :lol:


but I don't find them suitable to introduce to my DS leh....

as for \"jin yong\", I think too chim for my DS too.

Thanks to all for your recommendations, I will check it out. Hopefully, I can get them from Popular?!

[windows]

tamarind:

Another series of books I was on hooked on was the 卫斯理 science fiction series by 倪匡

oh yes, love his Wesley stories, his ending is always so philosophical...and agree that his sister's books are more \"positive\" than 琼瑶's, as all the women are more dependent and stronger...

[Brenda10]

tamarind:

Hi Brenda,

IMHO for girls, 亦舒 books are better than 琼瑶 (author of 还珠格格) Though I also read all of 琼瑶 books, she is a good writer, but her female characters are too weak (dependent on men).

I have read over 200+ books written by 亦舒. I love her style, plain, simple and straightforward. Her female characters are modern, strong and independent. She wrote quite a few novels which are not love stories, suitable for kids in early teens.

I hope all parents teach their kids (10 years and above) to read 金庸 novels, these books are transformational.

Hi Tamarind

Thank you for highlight the difference between 琼瑶 and 亦舒.

I should have a few亦舒 books but need time to search.

Let hope all our children can benefit from reading all these novels.

Cheers :celebrate:

[fristrom]

tamarind:

I hope all parents teach their kids (10 years and above) to read 金庸 novels, these books are transformational.

I still remember what happened when I got caught reading 金庸.

Now I am \"teaching\" my kid to read 小叮当... Time has changed, I guess... Chinese does not have to be so difficult...

[cafelatte]

Edited to add back original post :


My personal opinion, most of 金庸 novel has many sexual conotations with descriptions of female body parts and rape especially 神雕侠侣 and 鹿鼎记. In 射雕英雄传, there are parts about 欧杨锋 fantasising about 黄容 and don’t mind risking injuries to touch her body (but of course she was wearing 软猬甲). Then 笑傲江湖, there’s castration and men exhibiting feminine behaviour. I personally won’t let my son read 金庸 at age 10-12.

To read chinese chapter books, the child must have a reasonable command of chinese. I find that my son will not read them unless I act as a walking dictionary and sits next to him to translate and explain any words he doesn’t know.

I wonder how many of our current P4-P6 can read 亦舒 or 卫斯理 ? Definitely those are out of my son’s capability.

So far the following were success hits with my son : 闹闹 (as mentioned earlier), 马小跳系列, storybooks by 梁红缨; comics : 漫画校本, 我们这一班, 小白龙.

[tamarind]

cafelatte:

My personal opinion, most of 金庸 novel has many sexual conotations with descriptions of female body parts and rape especially 神雕侠侣 and 鹿鼎记. In 射鵰英雄傳, there are parts about 欧杨锋 fantasising about 黄容 and don't mind risking injuries to touch her body (but of course she was wearing 软猬甲). Then 笑傲江湖, there's castration and men exhibiting feminine behaviour. I personally won't let my son read 金庸 at age 10-12.

It is not true that there are many descriptions of female body parts in 金庸 novels. There are also not many sexual connotations, and if there is sex, it is only implied, and never described in the same way as those English novels. It is exactly like what you see in those Hong Kong TV series. Those Channel 8 TV series are a lot worst. And it is nothing compared to all those sex and violence in the computer games.

In 三国演义, the beauty 貂蝉 seduced 2 men at the same time. In 西游记, 猪八戒 is always lusting after women. If we want to completely shield our kids, then they will lose the opportunity to read all these great Chinese classics.

I do recommend kids to start reading 射鵰英雄傳, nothing really happened to 黄容. The part about 欧阳克 (not 欧阳锋) is only a very small part of the book, and the fantasising was harmless in my opinion, it is more like an expression of love. Remember that the novel is very long and this part is not significant. I will not stop my kids from reading it because of this small part.

In the famous book 好妈妈胜过好老师 from China, the mommy introduced her daughter to 倚天屠龍記 at age 8. The author wrote that though there are many words that her daughter could not read, she was drawn to the story so much that she continued to read anyway. This is exactly my case when I first started reading, and I learned so much as I read ! Her daughter finished reading all the 金庸 novels by the age of 10.

One very good advise from the author : do not expect your child to know every word that she reads. It is the story that is important. Most of the time we can guess the meaning of a word from the context.

I also highly recommend 書劍恩仇錄 for kids below 12.

Personally I think 笑傲江湖 is also fine, 东方不败 castrated himself to learn 绝世武功, but the act was never described, the only words used were 自宫. Kids probably will not understand what that means. Anyway 东方不败 died a terrible death, so that teaches a valuable lesson.

天龙八部, 鹿鼎记, 神雕侠侣 are probably more suitable for kids 13 and above, because the themes of love and relationship are more significant.

This is only my personal opinion. Parents who think that kids should only watch Disney type of stuff should not let their kids read any 金庸novels.

However, it is probably true that very few kids below 12 can read and understand 金庸novels in Singapore. The standard of Chinese is low compared to China. Thanks to the 四五快读 series of books, my girl is reading long Chinese chapter books now at P1, and I do hope to teach her to be able to read 金庸novels before the age of 12. If we only depend on the school teachers to teach, that will be impossible.

[tamarind]

relaxedmom:

Thanks to all for your recommendations, I will check it out. Hopefully, I can get them from Popular?!

I have seen them in Popular before, but not sure which branch still has stock. You can check with their customer service.

I order most of my Chinese books from :
http://book.dangdang.com/children/

Try searching for good books in this website, they have a huge variety and the prices are cheap compared to local bookshops.

[relaxedmom]

Thanks, Tamarind. Will check out dangdang for sure.

[cafelatte]

My original intent is to add some value to this discussion with my personal opinions (as stated). I am a fan of 金庸 and have read his books many times over the years. I thought it will be useful to share a different view, perhaps especially so for those who have not read 金庸 before.


I do not wish to engage in any verbal debate so I will take an exit here.